For as long as I can remember, I’ve been fascinated with electronics, starting with trying to hack the online game Club Penguin when I was five to make my penguin waddle faster. As I’ve gotten older and participated in research opportunities and academic debates, this general fascination with electronics has evolved into a specific interest in engineering. The Management, Entrepreneurship, & Technology Program at UC Berkeley will help me achieve my ultimate goal of an entrepreneurial career focusing on the intersection of computer and electrical engineering by providing me with unparalleled opportunities to not only delve deeper into my high school research interests but also carefully consider how to ensure that the results of my research materialize into a product that succeeds on the economic stage to ultimately make a global impact. 

I began looking into engineering my sophomore year after I debated a proposal to fund Lockheed Martin’s novel graphene desalination technology. This debate opened my eyes to the pressing issues of resource scarcity in the face of accelerating climate change. Thus, during my junior year, I independently researched the potential of graphene to desalinate water through molecular dynamics simulations and discovered that efficiency remains a critical barrier to the commercialization of engineered products. 

Now, I wish to explore the potential of artificial intelligence to improve efficiency issues through optimizing variable selection and outcome prediction. Through Berkeley’s MET Program, I am excited to work in the Artificial Intelligence Lab to gain a strong understanding of how artificial intelligence—a product of computer engineering—can be integrated into electrical and other forms of engineering to create powerful products. In particular, I hope to add to existing Berkeley research endeavors such as “Learning, perception and control for robotics” with specific research on the potential of integrating artificial intelligence with novel desalination technologies. Then, I look forward to analyzing those research products at the Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology from a business perspective. 

By providing me with the possibility of approaching research opportunities through a business lens, the MET program is the ideal program for me to work towards my goal.